Pulaski County moving $1.86 million to reserves

With no further discussion Tuesday night, the Pulaski County Quorum Court voted to move nearly $2 million in carryover funds into the county’s reserve funds.

The carryover funds represent revenue not spent in 2013. The approximately $1.86 million is about 3 percent of the county’s $63 million budget last year.

Some of the money will go toward beefing up the county’s emergency reserve fund balance, which took a hit last year when county officials discovered a software glitch that was causing them to believe they had more money than they did.

The Quorum Court voted last year to move $4.2 million to the emergency reserve fund to cover the deficit incurred from the glitch.

Tuesday night’s vote calls for moving $587,028 to emergency reserves, bumping the balance to $7 million. The capital maintenance and technology reserve fund will get $400,000, and the public safety reserve fund will get $300,000.

Another $282,000 will go toward capital improvements, such as an X-ray machine for the courthouse.

The final $286,165 will go into the county’s general fund as unappropriated money.

At its 20-minute-long meeting Tuesday night, the Quorum Court voted 13-0, with two members absent, to move the money after discussing the issue in greater depth at its February agenda and ways and means meetings two weeks ago. At those meetings, Quorum Court members said they were glad to increase reserve funds that have fallen low in the past.

County Comptroller Mike Hutchens told Quorum Court members present at both meetings that the 3 percent carryover amount was ideal for him because of the roughly 4 percent of jobs vacant in the county, which partially accounts for the carryover.

“We calculated more than we projected,” District 11 Justice of the Peace Bob Johnson, a Democrat, said at the ways and means meeting, “which means we’re doing a good job with our projections.”

Johnson also noted his appreciation for some of the money being spent on improvements to county buildings, which he said have been in bad shape for many years when the county didn’t have the reserve funds to improve them.

“I know we’re spending some on maintenance - I don’t want to leave anything undone - but I approve of what we’re doing,” he said.